Malandain, standing on his doorstep, began to laugh as he saw him
pass. Why?
He accosted a farmer of Criquetot, who did not let him finish, and
giving him a punch in the pit of the stomach, cried in his face: "Oh,
you great rogue!" Then he turned his heel upon him.
Maître Hauchecorne remained speechless and grew more and more uneasy.
Why had they called him "great rogue"?
When seated at table in Jourdain's tavern he began again to explain
the whole affair.
A horse dealer of Montivilliers shouted at him:
"Get out, get out, you old scamp! I know all about your old string."
Hauchecorne stammered:
"But since they found it again, the pocketbook!"
But the other continued:
"Hold your tongue, daddy; there's one who finds it and there's another
who returns it. And no one the wiser."